The American Red Cross Disaster Action Team is looking for more volunteers. Team members are on call 24 hours a day, and wake up sometimes in the middle of the night to assist people displaced by fires and other disasters. Peter Teahen with the Red Cross Grant Wood area chapter in Cedar Rapids, … [Read more...]
Communities receive free smoke detectors from Red Cross and Fire Marshal
The Iowa Red Cross is working with the State Fire Marshal’s office and community firefighters to install free home smoke alarms in several communities during the next several weeks. They started with volunteers going door-to-door in the central Iowa town of Madrid Saturday, and Red Cross … [Read more...]
Red Cross looking for Heroes of the Heartland nominees
The Iowa chapter of the Red Cross has launched its annual "hunt" for heroes. Kara Kelly, spokesperson for the Red Cross in Central Iowa, says they're now accepting nominations for the Heroes of the Heartland awards. "It could be outstanding work in the community, it could be a lifesaving act like … [Read more...]
Blood donations still needed during the holidays
There are all sort of reasons people skip giving blood during the holidays, but the need for blood remains constant and urgent, according to Katie Marshall, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross chapter in Omaha-Council Bluffs. "We are so busy with holiday activities, maybe travel, students are … [Read more...]
Red Cross names three heroes for Iowa-Nebraska game
Two Iowans and a teenager from the Omaha area will be recognized as "heroes" at halftime of Friday's Iowa-Nebraska football game in Lincoln. Staff and volunteers from the American Red Cross have selected Iowa State Trooper Tracy Bohlen of Waukee and Jane McCurdy of Ankeny as the award recipients … [Read more...]
Red Cross responds to more than a dozen home fires
There have been a lot of home fires in recent days around the state and Kara Kelly, with the American Red Cross in Des Moines, says volunteers from her agency are working to help the victims. "We've been incredibly busy the last four days...with 15 home fires since Friday," Kelly said. Those fires … [Read more...]
Iowa Red Cross volunteers to help victims of California wildfires
Four Red Cross disaster volunteers from Iowa are heading for California today to help those affected by a series of huge wildfires. Jacci Etter Skogerboe of Clarion is a health services volunteer and explains what she'll be doing on the West Coast for the next few weeks. "I volunteer as an EMT here … [Read more...]
Norwalk woman heads to Saipan on Red Cross mission
A central Iowa woman on Monday traveled to Saipan, which was blasted by a typhoon last week. Pat Burch of Norwalk is a retired nurse and a trained Red Cross healthcare worker. As she was waiting to board a flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo, Burch told Radio Iowa she wasn't entirely sure what work … [Read more...]
Red Cross holds Resiliency Summit to help Iowans prepare for disasters
The statewide chapter of the American Red Cross is hosting its first Iowa Resiliency Summit today in Des Moines. The agency's regional disaster officer, Dan Cataldi, says they're gathering people from an array of sources, including state departments, universities, churches and more. Cataldi says, … [Read more...]
Red Cross responding to more fires than usual this summer
It's been a very busy July for the American Red Cross, as the organization responded to 8 home fires last weekend alone. Red Cross regional executive director Tammy Lee says grilling out is just one of the summertime activities that can lead to disaster. "If you're too close to the house or … [Read more...]